IN THE RARE OLD TIMES

8. IN THE RARE OLD TIMES Raised on songs & stories, heroes of re-knownThe passing tales & glories that once was Dublin townThe hallowed halls & houses, the haunting childrens' rhymesThat once was Dublin city in the rare ould times[Chorus:]Ring a ring a rosie, as the light declinesI remember Dublin city in the rare ould timesMy name it is Sean Demspey, as Dublin as can beBorn hard & late in Pimlico, in a house that ceased to beBy trade I was a cooper, lost out to redundancyLike my house that fell to progress, my trade's a memory

9. & I courted Peggy Dignan, as pretty as you pleaseA rogue & a child of Mary, from the rebel libertiesI lost her to a student chap with a skin as black as coalWhen he took her off to Birmingham, she took away my soul[Chorus]The years have made me bitter, the gargle dims my brain'Cause Dublin keeps on changing & nothing stays the sameThe Pillar & the Met have gone, the Royal long since pulled downAs the great unyielding concrete makes a city of my town[Chorus]Fare thee well sweet Anna Liffey, I can no longer stay& watch the new glass cages, that spring up along the quayMy mind's too full of memories, too old to hear new chimesI'm part of what was Dublin in the rare ould times[Chorus]